Currently viewing and reading

Costume me Bakla!

Posted by AJ in September 30th 2007

Halloween is almost here and we’re getting ready for it!

Bakla is no stranger to costumes and theme days as he calls himself an experienced “costume innovator.” Coming up with a costume for Halloween is easy, that is if you want to be like everyone else - ordinary. Many costumes are available in department stores and malls, but why spend when you can have a fantabulous costume made from, well, scratch.

Yes, you can make your own costumes at home! You don’t need sewing skills and sewing equipment just so you can put that little extra in extraordinary. All you need is your creative mind, a pair of scissors, glue (or glue gun if you have it) and some extra butingtings.
Decide on a costume based on your theme, if there is any. You can do some research on the internet or in malls. Maker sure that the costume you choose to make or imitate is something which will not require you to buy a lot of materials and will not require you to go to a tailor or seamstress just to have it made. This is all about not spending a lot of money for something which you will wear only once. (You don’t want to be photographed wearing the same costume in two different parties, do you?) Before purchasing any materials and accessories, make sure you check your home for what you already have and what personal items you can sacrifice. Also, you might wanna check out thrift stores, aka Ukay-Ukay, for used clothing which you can cut up and tear up (in simple terms - ruin) to turn into your costumes).

So work up that creative mind and be the star of your costume parties!

Here are some samples:

1. The Black Nun

Total Expense: zero (all items already pre-existing)

Materials:
3 1/2 yards of Black Gina Silk (@ P25 per yard). Bakla brought down one panel of his floor-to-ceiling curtains to use this.
Black Sweater (P100 from Cubao Ukay Ukay)
Scissors

2. Retrospect to the 70s

Total Expense: zero (all items pre-existing, too!)

Materials:
1 strip of Orange Gina Silk (P25 per yard). Bakla cut off an end from his existing curtain.
Retro-ish polo shirt (about P100). Bakla borrowed this shirt from one of his colleagues. Retroish Ukay Ukay items are a dime a dozen at Bambang Ukay Ukay. Lots of Vintage items there too!
1 pair of Bell-bottomish pants. (about P100). Bakla bought this pair at the same Bambang Ukay Ukay shop mentioned above.

3. Gambit

Brown Trenchcoat
P300.00
Boots, Vest,
Mask
P190.00
Gloves
P 50.00
Silver Patches on Boots
P 0.00
(Cut-outs from Piatos bag)
Paint for Logo
P 80.00 (Excess, a lot by the
way, for future use)
Paintbrush
P 8.00
Staff
P 0.00 (Courtesy of
Clean City)
Ace of Spades
P 39.75 (Full deck can be used for Strip
Poker)
Total
P667 .75